THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1915.
, PAGE FIVE
LA GRANDE EVENING OBSERVER
MISTRESSES OF
THE WHITE HOUSE
An Infinity of Tact Required
of "First Lady."
IN no previous Instance ever has a
ml tress of the White House
been a Washington woman. The
present situation therefore la . a
lilt peculiar, especially In view of the
circumstances that the president's
bride, for all ber descent from Poca
hontas, has not been hitherto a mem
ber of the capital's Bmart set' No
sooner . was ber engagement to the
president announced than, as a matter
of course, the fashionable crowd was
eager to take her up and even to ac
cept her as Its leader if she so wished.
Dolly Madison led Washington so
ciety, her reign continuing, Indeed, for
a number of years after she left the
White House. So, likewise,' did Mrs.
Cleveland, and tbe same may be said
of Mrs. Roosevelt
The "first lady," if she would lead
the coterie of fashion, must possess In
nigh degree the special faculty and
most do a -great deal of entertaining.
Two White' House mistresses have
been pronounced Puritans. Mrs. Hayes
banished wine. Mrs. Polk put a stop
to dancing,' of which she did not ap
prove on general principles and which
abe deemed out of harmony with tbe
dignity of the presidential mansion.
The most unpopular mistress of the
Whit) House was Mrs. James Monroe,
who had lived much abroad while her
husband was minister to France and
Great Britain. She was full of Ideas
acquired at foreign courts, and she es
tablished a code of rigid etiquette that
made tbe administration unpopular.
Jefferson had two married daughters,
but they could be with him only at
times, and so it came about that Mis
tress Dolly Mndison, wife of bis secre-
E&MrfVWMJSK AGVL JVWA. Ail
Photo 9 by Arnold Genthe..
TUB NSW HISTBB98 OF THE WHITE H0U8B
tory of state, officiated as "first lady"
during bis administration. Later when
ber husband succeeded Jefferson as
president she added to her popularity
and left behind her the greatest social
traditions of any woman who has ever
presided at the White House.
Another great social favorite was
Harriet Lane, niece of President Bu
chanan, who as mistress of tbe White
House was noted for her tact
In a rather surprising number of In
stances the mistresses of the White
House have been invalids. Mrs. McKln
ley was never able to be present at
public receptions or other large enter
tainments and when she did appear re
ceived her guests seated lu a chair.
Mrs. Taft suffered from ill health,
and Mrs. Andrew Johnson was like
wise an invalid, and when out of bed
rarely left her chair. Mrs. Taylor was
a Bufferer from chronic nervous de
pression. Mrs. Pierce was a shrinking
and sensitive woman who had suffer
ed wretched health since childhood.
Mrs. William Henry ' Harrison was
never in the White House. At the
time of her husband's Inauguration
she was too ill to make a long jour
ney across the country. Delicate health
likewise afflicted Mrs. John Quincy
Adams.
Mrs. Fillmore on the same account
made little effort to promote social
festivities.
Mrs. Garfield's life In the White
House was one of seclusion, her taste
for society being but slightly develop
ed. The first Mrs. Benjamin Harrison,
111 when she entered the White House,
died during her husband's term.
The first wife of President Tyler was
partly paralyzed and died not very
long after her husband's term began.
Later, and while still president, he
married quietly In New York a girl of
twenty, Julia Gardiner, who was the
daughter of an old friend. He was
fifty-nine years old.
The shadow of the civil war gave
the Lincoln administration little chance
from a social point of view, but any
way Mrs. Lincoln was not fitted for
the role of a social leader. Mrs. Grant
also cared little for such a role.
The first mistress of the White
House was Abigail Adams, wife of
John Adams, the first occupnnt of the
White House and second president of
the United States. She was of stern
Hew England stock and presided with
nacb dignity.
-'. . Ages of Coast Trees -
News was recently received by
Portland officials of the Forestry Ser
vice that the Doubles fir found in the
Washington forest in Western Wash
ington, reported to be more than 1300
years old, is by the count of the an
nual rings 1144 years of age. It still
is the oldest Douglas fir of which the
authorities of the Forestry Service
have record. .
The rings were counted by the
ranger on duty near Finney Creek,
where the monster tree was found.
The tree has been cut downi the stump
partially burned and 50 feet of the
trunk sawed into wood.
For the first 600 years of the tree's
growth it attained a radius"of 27 1-2
inches and the other 644 years added
only 14 inches to the radiue.
The oldest hemlock on record is 643
years old and was found somewhere
in Western Washington. ' It had at
tained a diameter of 60 inches. The
oldest red cedar yet discovered by the
forest officials was found in the Sno
qualmie forest, was 100 inches . in
diameter end' 1137 years of uge.
The oldest yellow pine in Eastern
Oregon is 687 years old, its diameter
being about four feet Five thousand
trees were examined in the growth
study. .. . :, . . , , ;
Expert Report Cause.
' Spokane, Wash., Dec. 20. Four
experts, S. H. Hedges and B. D. Dean
of Seattle; F. W. Crocker of Portland,
and F. M. Cortelyou of Spokane, have
reported on the bridge disaster, find
ing that crystallization" of an eye
beaim in one of the lower steel cords
supporting the 180-foot span caused
the collapse- of the bridge Saturday
morning. The report stated that no
excessive load was on the bridge when
the disaster occurred.
A Close Shave, for the Barber,
Nottingham, Eng., Nov. 20. (By
Mail) "Gassed," and with German
gas at that, right at home was the
fate of Arthur Hemstock, master
barber here. After shaving a con
valescent Canadian soldier who'd
been gassed in France, Hemstock be
came violently ill. "Gas infection,
second hand," was the doctors verdict.
He'll recover.
Uncle Joe Cannon is back in Wash
ington with the others. They can't
Jose him, True they tried it once and
Succeeded for a time but , they
couldro't make it stick, ' ,'.,,' i
Plant Wizard is Lo cated
Father George Schoener, the plant
wizard of Oregon, will be located near
St. Johns, a tract of land having been
secured from Coe B. McKenna that is
suited to the purposes of developing
new species of plant life. The ex
periments with flowers and plants
are to be financed by an association
of business men of the city, but the
results of Father Schoener's work will
not be commercialized. The public
cannot purchase the new plants that
are " to introduce new fruits, grains
and flowers. The work is to be a
broad experiment, but the success
which Father Schoener has hereto
fore had causes his friends to believe
that "Fathelr Schoener's Scientific
Garden" will soon be one of the most
valuable assets of the state. Cham
ber of Commerce Bulletin.
.Anti-Hyphen School 30 years Ago
El Paso Texas, Dec. 22. The Aoy
school here is extracting the hyphen
from 1,2000 young Mexican-Americans
. annually.. Thirty American
teachers are employed teaching ac
cording to the Gary system. Swarthy
little mustaches and muchaches be
come plain American girls and boys
with American ways and American
ideals. The school was founded more
than thirty years ago by a Spaniard,
thought to have been a refugee from
Mexico. He began his educational
work in .the little hut where he lived.
Gradually his school grew and after
his death a few years ago, it was
taken over by the board of education.
It is believed that "Aoy" were the
initials of the strange man, for all
in Mexico' no one of that name has
been found.
According to the war correspond
ents, when a shell strikes the "s'
comes off.
Magdalene in Real Life , ..
Chicago, Dec. 22. A little more
than three years ago Grace Rennett
was one of the best gowned woman
in Chicago's then notorious levee dis
tricts. Then came the crusade which
wiped out that section. Grace like
hundreds of her kind, was driven to
the streets. The gowns she had worn
in her house were useless on the high
way. She became ragged. One day
she was arrested and taken before
the Morals court Judge Uhlir gave
her a chance. Yesterday she was be
fore the Morals court again, Jo plead
for a fallen girl. Judge Uhlir re
cognized the woman he paroled three
years ago. After Judge Uhlir put
Grace she isn't known by that name
anymore on parole, a promient
South Side social leader took her into
his home. He made her one of his
family, on trial. Grace mado good
and today is doing reform work of
her own, ,
Grazing on the National Forests.
According to the annual report of
the secretary of agriculture, there
were grazed last year on the na
tional Forests under pay permits,
1,724,000 cattle and horses and 7,300,
000 sheep and goats. Several hundred
thousand head of milch and work ani
mals were grazed free of charge, and
more than 3.600,000 head of stock
crossed the forests, feeding en route,
also free of charge.
To show the irareased use of the
forests for grazing, the secretary
tntj that, during the fiscal Year 1905
there were only 692,000 cattle and
horses and 1,514,000 sheep ana goats
on airoroxhnately 85.000 acres. The
number, of animals now sustained in
proportion to the area of the forests is
60 per cent greater- than it was ten
years ago. Since ; 1905 the number
of persons holding grazing privileges
has increased 200 per cent This can
be attributed principally to wider
UK a hv RAtfclArs and small RtuOcmAn.
According to the report, the greater I
part of the summer range in the west
ern states is in the National Forests.
Under the regulated government sys
tem the forage is utilized fully, with
out injury to the growth, and with
adequate safeguards against water
shed damage. It is stated that the
productivity of the land for forage in
most places has been restored and
everywhere is increasing; the industry
has been made more stable; stock
comes from the forests in better con
dition; range; wars have stopped;
ranch property has increased in value;
and a larger area has been made avail
able through range improvements. It
is probable, so the report states, that
100,000,000 pounds of beef and mutton
are sold each year from herds and
flocks occupying the ranges. That
the forests have promoted the de
velopment of the stock industry is
indicated. . This is appreciated ,fy
stockmen and they are urging that
a similar system of range regulation
be extended to the unreserved public
lands.
The secretary concludes by stating
that it is not merely the stock in
dustry that has been benefited. The
grazing privilege has been distributed
so as to promote heal.hy community
growth, increase settlement, prevenjt
monopoly, and diffuse prosperity. In
other words, public control has served
social as well as economic ends;
Diablo "Adopted"
Oakland, Dec. 21. Oakland has
adopted The Mountain of Laughter,
that storied western peak whose
ragged shoulders rise four thousand
feet straight into the blue from the
flat plain beside this city of three
hundred thousand souls. The drives
and scenic boulevards which will con
nect the parks on old Diablo are
planned to wind through the Garden
of Jungle Gods. The giant frog, the
whale, the elephant, the pigeon, the
mastadon and bearded man are but
a few of the curious, rock y shapes
that speckle the rugged sides of Koo-
Wah-K.oom. By air line, Mount yi
ablo is distant from this city about
fifteen miles. Since July 1851 Di
ablo has been a base meridian the
point from which all California land
surveys have been measured.
" We need Diablo as a scenic as
set," said the citizens of Oakland.
Wherefore the Merchants' Exchange
a business men's organization
climbed to the summit of the moun
tain in a body and adopted it.
"We of Oakland hereby adopt you,
sentinel peak, guardian of half our
state," said the president and broke
a bottle of wine, brewed from grapes
grown on Diablo's sides, over the
monument that marks the base meri
dian. .
An auto highway with an average
grade of five per cent has been com
pleted to the summit. Other boule
vards are contemplated and an ob
servatory and hotel will crown the
fiant pile. Diablo, known to the In
ians as Koo-Wah-Koom, the "moun
tain of laughter," has become the
mecca for the motor tourist From
its summit one can look down upon
half the state of California. Forty
thousand square miles, comprising
twenty-seven counties are spread out
in a vast panorama.
GOOD-BYE, COYOTE.
United States Health Service Plans
Complete Eradication.
Since the appointment of E. F.
Averill of Pendleton, by the U. S. bio
logical survey, as district superin
tendent in Eastern Oregon, the work
of eradicating rabies has almost en
tirely passed from the hands of the
forestry department, according to
Supervisor Ephraim Barnes, of the
Minam National forest, who is of the
opinion that the campaign for stamp
ing out the plague of hydrophobia in
Oregon, California, Nevada and Ida
ho, headed by Surgeon J. S. Boggess
of the U. S. health service, will in
this section of the country, be left to
Mr. Averill.
. Dr. Boggess has sent telegrams
asking for the cooperation of the gov
ernors of the affected states and has
outlined a plan of exterminating coy
otes; chief carriers of the disease, by
poison, gun and trap. It is his in
tention to patrol Grant, Harney,
'Wheoler, Coos, Klamath and Uma
tilla counties with inspectors to over
see the work of . eradication, and
county courts will be asked to place
additional bounties on coyote scalps.
ROBBED BY. NURSE.
Baker Civil War Veteran Loses
Money and Clothing.
Baker, Dec. 22 To be robbed while
he slept early this morning, supposed
ly by the man who was nursing him
through an attack of pneumonia, was
the experience last night of George
Schindler, a Civil War veternn, living
on Court street near Second street.
His loss amounts to $46 in cash, to
gether with a heavy black overcoat,
and a black felt hat of the old army
style. ...
Louis Wambold, believed to be the
principal in the affair, a recent ar
rival in Baker, had been acquainted
with Schindler for only a few days,
but volunteered to sit up with the
old soldier. At about 2 o'clock this
morning Schindler dozed off and on
awakening at about 3:80 noticed that
his nurse was gone. Then he saw
that his trousers were not hung as
he had left them, and on rising to in
vestigate, found his money missing,
together with his hnt and coat.
In spite of his illness he hastily
donned his clothes and making his
way to the police station, reported the
affair. Today he is reported to be in
a serious condition due to axposur
and excitement .
TV ae hM been turned over te
the county authorities and telegrams
have been sent out to cities and towns
along the railroad, in the hope of ap
prehending Wiambald.
Al Selwyn Wept in His Oyster Patty
New York, Dec. 18. Arch A. Sel
wyn,. better known to Broadway as
Al, the abbreviation of his middle
name, Aloyslus, who is head of the
theatrical film of Selwyn & Co., when
ever his brother Eogar goes out to
luncheon, has been advised Hhat he
will give his annual dinner, to which
all Broadway is always invited, at
the Hudson theatre tomorrow night
This, expensive news was broken
to Mr.' Selwyn by Roi Cooper Me
grue, C. Pincus Hayes, Douglas Fair
banks, Raymond Hitchcock, James)
Forbes, Irvin S. Cobb, Charles Bel
mont Davis, Miss, Margaret. Mayo,
Miss Margaret Hlington, George
Doran, Crosby Gaige, Miss Madge
Kennedy, Miss Mary Pickford, Wil
liam Courtenay, Charles Hanson
Towne, Seumas CVSlullivan, Frank
Crowninshield and many, many oth
ers who chased him all over Gotham
just to let him know it ,
They told him that they had ar
ranged an affair which, for costli
ness and elaborate splendor will so
far outshine anything he has ever
done that he will have cause to be
proud of their efforts. Mr. Selwyn
also learned that he will pay for the
taxicabs that were used in chasing
him. All Mr. Selwyn has to do is
make a mental note of the time end
place the dinner is to be held and pay
the bills as they aro presented. Even
the slightest detail is attended to for
him. Last year's affair set Mr. Sel
wyn back ' $1,180,: so this perennial
host confossed with a touch of bitter
ness while weeping in his oyster patty
between dances that night.
The taxicab chase was a failure af
ter all and finnlly, three playwriters,
seven actors, a novelist and four
magazine men became clogged in a
long distance telephone booth. By
brute strength Mir. Megrue finally
wrested the receiver from Ernest
Truex and at last located Mr. Selwyn
in the Kowayton Watercross No. 1
Hook and Ladder's fire ' house, of
which Mr. Selwyn recently was made
chief in recognition of his work in in
stituting the special delivery letjor
system of sending out fire . alarms
which recently replaced the old sys
tem of notifying the Rowayton fire
men by post card when a fire oc
curred. '..
As a fire was under way out near
Kale Durkin's farm last night and
Chief Solwyn had only begun to get
his uniform out of his'Tbcker in the
fire house he found himself unable
to give more than five or six minutes
to the formalities of discussing the
official notification.
"May I offer a suggestion, Mr.
Chairman?" the fire chief hollered
over the telephone from Rowayton to
Broadway. Chairman Megrue con
ferred briefly with the committee and
then hollered back to Selwyn that
any suggestion he had to make con
cermng his party woudi be received
and placed on file by tne committco
and considered for whatever the com
mittee thought it worth.
"I merely wish to say before going
to the fire," thereupon said the cljiof,
"that I think this year's party you
say I'm giving should have as its
chief guests the cast of 'Under Fire'
inasmuch as that's the company now
at the Hudson." '
"That seems perfectly 1 fair," re
plied the author Chairman Megrue.
"Carried."
The committee after carefully
counting the seats and measuring the
standing room spaces in the Hudson
theatre last night decided that it will
be possible to get at least 1,000 of
Mr. Selwyn's friends to the party.
WHEAT GOING EAST.
Average of Twelve Cars Per Day
, from Walla Walla Valley.
I vvmuu tv mm, uw, luuui
carloads of wheat are being sent out
;of the Walla Walla valley every day
J for Middle Western points, ultimately
I to be shipped on to the Atlantic sea
board and sent from there across the
ocean to Europe. Such were the facts
'gathered today after an investigation
I of the business being done at the pres
jent time by local shippers. .
I For the first time, perhaps, in the
i i history of the Walla Walla valley
practically all of the wheat being
.; moved is being sent eastward, with
: the ultimate destination the Atlantic
(seaboard. In former years large
nr.. 11 .. TIT 1 1 Tl fin Al x in
, quantities of the grain have been sent
rrom here to Portland and the Sound,
I there to bo loaded into vessels, to be
sent oil over the world.
The slides in the Panama canal, and
the European war, however, has
meant the withdrawal of large num
bers of vessels, and bottoms for the
carrying of wheat are practically im
possible to find upon the Pacific coast
As a. result local wheat is being load
ed into cars and sent eastward at the
rate of about 12 cars per day, ul
timately to be sent to the European
nations. Although the cost of trans
portation across the continent by rail
is considerable, exporters are forced
to do it in order to fill contracts.
Although the wheat is shipped with
New York, Philadelphia and other At
lantic ports as the ultimate destina
tion, very few of the cars are being
sent east of Chicago at present, stat
ed one of the local shippers yester
day. Lack of bottoms on the Atlantic
has caused a practical embargo, and
a large number of loaded cars are
standing at the sidings east of Chi
cago waiting to be moved.
One of the local shippers said that
he had it on good authority yesterday
that there were about 64,000 loaded
cars on the tracks east of Chicago
and Council Bluffs destined for Eu
rope. Of these a good proportion are,
loaded with wheat As fast as ves
sels from Europe arrive and unload
they are immediately chartered for
the return trip, and a number of the
cars are unloaded. In this way
Northwest wheat is slowly fmdlnir its
nv aniMi th AilATtfb. -.ijtl
THERE ARE MANY REASONS'
!' "':..' ' . ' ' 'V"-'" -''' '
'WHY EVERY rfOME IN LA
GRANDE SHOULD HAVE
ELECTRIC LIGHT. ;
Eastern
Always at Your SerVice
Special Candy Sale
'.'", ' V .' '.
ForXmas
Boxes of candy from
Boxes of candied fruit
Boxes of cigars from
Bulk candy, pound
Nuts of all kinds, pound
' Full line of penny candy for the little folk's. ;
'Corns and look over the stock and prices before
buying my place else, or sending away.
.'School, church, lodge, and party orders given
I-extra special pnees.-"'
Your co-operation earnestly solicited. !
Young's
X
T.D ii ft irn
Tra-Bfc
Grocery
Headquarters
For Christmas
CANWES
Big lots, little lots, and lots of kinds to
select from, also all kinds of nuts.
Candies from1 12 l-2c a pound up; nuts
from 12 l-2c a pound up.
' Don't fail to see us before buying your
Xmas candies and nuts. Because here's the
, place. . -v, ',. , 1
Yours for a big Merry Xmas,
C. J. Black's Grocery
-Comer Adams
BighiGoods,
Oregon Light &
Power Co.
Telephone Main 43
,9
..25c to $10.00
75c
w.50c up
..10c up to 50c
:....:...25c
-
' :- -
for Service
nflfl - A rw a
and Fir Street
Right Prices
.. '. .-j, .; fliif
i 'irV'V.'.t! ';'H;